Tabane Shinonono
Tabane Shinonono (篠ノ之 束, Shinonono Tabane) is Houki's older sister and the creator of the Infinite Stratos (IS). 'Appearance' She has purple eyes, long purple pink hair that extends to her hips, wears a lab-coat, a pair of robotic rabbit ears and is often seen wearing a frilly maid like blue and white dress. 'Personality' Much to everybody's surprise, Tabane is a very energetic person and runs around like a happy child. She often refers herself as "Tabane the Genius", hinting to a sense of cockiness. She is very fond of the people she loves and would hug them as many times as she feels like. She states that there are only three people in the world that have any meaning to her (Houki, Chifuyu, and Ichika) and the rest of the humans are the same to her (she can't identify one human from another). Ichika notes that she was extremely rude to Cecilia (when she asks Tabane to look at her IS), which she states is an "improvement", as in the past she would ignore others (other than the three) completely as if they did not exist. Although not explicitly stated, this is later changed to four people with the introduction of Ku-chan. LN - Vol. 7 Epilogue She even has no problem giving these few special people an IS, regardless of what they've done,what their reason may be or even who their with. Her explosive entrances and her childish manners often results in her being hit on the head by people like Chifuyu and Houki, but she recovers extremely fast and gets energetic again. Tabane also has a more often than not tendency to act slightly lecherously, proven when she teases Houki about her large breasts, or when Tabane notes the exact bust size of the "White Knight". This perverted side of hers is also one of the reasons why Houki and Chifuyu tend to become very annoyed with her. She also has little sense of responsibility for what she does or what her creations cause, as in the case of the IS. She has the comical tendency, befitting of her childish personality, to manipulate the concept of things falling out of the sky often. More than once, has jumped distances or landed at speeds far exceeding the human tolerance limit. While it is mostly exaggeration, times where she has done that have not been few and far in between. This may imply that she has fairly high physical endurance and that she doesn't have a weak heart. She can, rather, be fearless and confident when it comes to some things. Although she sometimes acts like a child, her intelligence is at the top of the world and can work at a very fast rate, such as adjusting the Akatsubaki to fit Houki's body in less than a minute and declaring that she can finish configuring Akatsubaki in just seven minutes. She is implied to be the mastermind behind a few incidents, such as the unmanned IS incidents in Volume 3 & 7. As well, she seem to enjoy watching event happen around her IS's, sometimes even playing as a influence in them, although she won't directly interfere with them, even when she could. This suggest that she prefers to observe events than stop them. Tabane favors rabbits, with the metal bunny ears on her head and the carrot pod she arrived in to give Houki her IS. Her costume choices are centered around children's tales, though oddly so, as she was said to have donned a combination of clothing derived from every character of Hansel and Gretel, and the costume she is seen in at the beach was said to have been derived from Alice and the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. She is shown to be a fan of mob-based shows, such as designating Chifuyu with the Godfather ringtone and Houki with the background music of a conversation from The Yakuza Wives.Vol. 2 Epilogue Also, Tabane may or may not be aware that she helps out enemies from people she knows, such as Madoka being an enemy to Ichika and Chifuyu although she is their sister. This shows that Tabane has a will to help others whether they ask for it or not. 'Relationships' *Houki Shinonono - Her younger sister that she calls affectionately "Houki-chan". Even if Houki sometimes hates her, Tabane stays a caring and loving older sister, even exclusively designing the IS, Akatsubaki for her. Whenever Houki is cranky, Tabane usually encourages her to smile. Tabane even customized a ringtone for Houki's call on her cellphone, with its proper caller ID pink wallpaper, a photo of Houki and a big "ほうきちゃん　♥" ("Houki-chan ♥") on top. It is implied in Volume 7, that in the past, out of anger or hatred, Houki had done something greatly to hurt Tabane, but she took it with a smile and never blames Houki, who, due to her strong sense of responsibility and guilt is unable to bring herself to face Tabane. *Chifuyu Orimura - A very close childhood friend. In the light novel, they both met each other in elementary school, and after that were always in the same school and same class. Tabane affectionately calls her "Chi-chan" and always attempts to hug her but is often rebuffed by the latter. *Ichika Orimura - Chifuyu's younger brother and Houki's childhood friend. Tabane affectionately calls him "Ikkun" (short for "Ichika-kun"). Not much is known of their relationship, though based on the conversation between Chifuyu and Tabane, she may have a hand in getting Ichika to where he currently is. Also the two may seem to get along fairly well. Similarly, both Tabane and Ichika may seem agree on certain factors that is considered mean. Ichika himself is also aware on how Tabane can be annoying, but unlike Houki and Chifuyu who have no or barely little tolerance for it, he doesn't yell or hit her.. *Chloe Chronicle - Revealed in the end of Volume 7 Epilogue. In that short segment, Tabane called her Ku-chan and asked her to call her "Mama" implying that she have adopted the child. To Ku-Chan, Tabane means a lot to her, as Tabane was the one who saved her from an unknown crisis. She is seen with her at the last episode of Season 2. *Madoka Orimura - On their first meeting, she instantly recognizes M as Madoka Orimura and declares she is willing to make a new IS for her and starts calling her Madocchi. Thus, she request that she come with her. 'Infinite Stratos & Abilities' Since she's its creator, she has an extensive knowledge of them, creating the Akatsubaki, a 4th generation IS that no country has ever got to. Tabane has created 467 IS core that nobody could replicate. She is extremely fast at processing electronics. Besides creating IS, Tabane also able to "teleport" her customized machines from the sky with a single click on her remote control. She is capable of de-activing an IS, possibly through a form of fail-safe she may have installed into the IS core. Physically, Tabane is as skilled as she is smart. She claims this is one of the many reasons she has been called a genius by others. Having increased her body on a cellular level, her speed, power and agility allow her to make the best use of her fighting skills. She claims that only Chifuyu Orimura, who is renown as the worlds strongest and has amazing physical capability herself, can fight her on even terms. Which only further shows how powerful she really is. Squall Meusel, the leader of a Phantom Task squad and someone good enough to match the likes of Tatenashi Sarashiki, admitted that she would lose to Tabane if she got serious after witnessing her abilities, even with her IS. She also has a strong immune system, being completely unaffected by a sleeping drug Squall fed her. 'History' She first started on the creation of the IS for the concept of the space exploration 10 years ago. Having created the 467 cores and shocking the world of the existence of the unit, she disappeared from the face of the earth. Even in the time line of the novel, she's still the most wanted person by all the organizations related to IS due to her knowledge. 'Plot Synopsis' 'Episode 9: "Ocean's Eleven!"' Tabane is first introduced to the main storyline working in a secret lab when her younger sister Houki gives her a call. Tabane at first teases her but then announces that she has done designing a personal IS for her: the Akatsubaki. 'Episode 10: "Thin Red Line"' Tabane makes an explosive entrance (dropping in from the sky in a carrot pod) when Ichika pulled out the robtic ears from the ground. She chatted for a short while with him before running off to find Houki. Later she makes yet another entrance by running down a cliff side, much to Houki's and Chifuyu's chagrin, and attempts to hug Chifuyu and tease Houki about her large breasts. After which she introduced to the rest the IS that she created specially for Houki and dealt with the settings quickly, before putting it to the test. Later during the strategy meeting, she pops out of the ceiling, persuading Chifuyu that it is a good chance to let the Akatsubaki be given a test run against the enemy. At the waterfall, as she was explaining the specs to the others, she made a reference to the "White Knight Incident" and hinting that Chifuyu was somehow related (by saying the pilot has a 88cm bust size) before getting smacked in the head. [[Infinite Stratos Episode 12|'Episode 12: "Your Name Is"']] 'Quotes' *''(Houki's ringtone) Tabane: "I know that ringtone~!" (Tabane picks up the phone) Tabane: "Hi hi,hi-de-ho~. It's everyone's favourite genius, Tabane ''Shinonono!" (Houki, pissed, about to hang up) Tabane: "Wait, wait! Don't hang-up, Houki-chan~!" Houki: "Nee-san.." Tabane: "No no no, my dear little sister! hum hum I know what you want! You want one, right? Your own personal machine! Of course, I have one prepared. Top-of-the-line and also non-standard. And it's even a match for the white one! And the name of this machine is...Akatsubaki!" - Tabane and Houki on the phone (Episode 9) *Tabane: "I have an idea in my head, and it's - printing. So where's your printer?" : - Tabane talking to Chifuyu (Episode 10 ) 'Trivia' *Tabane's name in kanji means "bundle" (tabane, 束). *During the OP sequence, Tabane's pose is almost the same as the first opening of Gundam 00, she raises her arms to the sides while surrounded by a light and the background is space, similar to the Maria/Exia (Setsuna's Gundam) sequence. *It is true that she was the hacker who launched all the missles at Japan, to showcase the power of the IS. She was possibly the one behind the Silver Gospel Incident as well to allow Houki to make herself known for stopping it. 'References' Category:Miscellaneous Characters Category:Female